Assessing magnetic torques and energy fluxes in close-in star-planet systems

TL;DR

This paper uses 3D magnetohydrodynamic simulations to analyze magnetic torques and energy fluxes in close-in star-planet systems, providing scaling laws for planetary migration and emission predictions.

Contribution

It introduces a simple parametrization of magnetic torque and energy flux based on a grid of 3D MHD simulations, aiding in modeling star-planet magnetic interactions.

Findings

Derived scaling laws for magnetic torque and energy flux.

Identified dependencies on planetary and stellar wind properties.

Provided tools for estimating exoplanetary magnetic fields from observations.

Abstract

Planets in close-in orbit interact with the magnetized wind of their hosting star. This magnetic interaction was proposed to be a source for enhanced emissions in the chromosphere of the star, and to participate in setting the migration time-scale of the close-in planet. The efficiency of the magnetic interaction is know to depend on the magnetic properties of the host star, of the planet, and on the magnetic topology of the interaction. We use a global, three-dimensional numerical model of close-in star planet systems, based on the magnetohydrodynamics approximation, to compute a grid of simulations for varying properties of the orbiting planet. We propose a simple parametrization of the magnetic torque that applies to the planet, and of the energy flux generated by the interaction. The dependancy upon the planet properties and the wind properties are clearly identified in the derived scaling laws, which can be used in secular evolution codes to take into account the effect of magnetic interactions in planet migration. They can also be used to estimate a potential magnetic source of enhanced emissions in observed close-in star-planet systems, in order to constrain observationally possible exoplanetary magnetic fields.